1. The narrator says that Miss Strangeworth's letters "dealt with the more negotiable stuff of suspicion" (424). What is this saying about suspicion?
(a) It is flexible in the way that facts are not.
(b) It is a negative force in the lives of the people of the town.
(c) It is something that Miss Strangeworth feels more and more over time.
(d) It is the kind of thing that people argue about.

2. Why does Miss Strangeworth feel so certain that the children in front of the post office will be respectful toward her?
(a) She knows that the children of the town have all be raised to respect older people.
(b) She thinks that they would not dare to make fun of someone as important as her.
(c) She has been a good friend to their families and knows most of them by name.
(d) She thinks that there is nothing about her that a person could possibly make fun of.

3. According to the narrator, how do the townspeople feel about Miss Strangeworth and her house and her roses?
(a) Irritated.
(b) Proud.
(c) Jealous.
(d) Amused.

4. When Miss Strangeworth gets home from the grocery store, why does she not have the cup of tea she thinks about having?
(a) She believes that it will spoil her appetite for her midday meal.
(b) She is too tired and decides to have a nap.
(c) She had a cup earlier in the day and thinks that a second cup is too indulgent.
(d) She has forgotten to buy tea at the grocery store.

5. Linda suggests that since no one in town seems to care about her and Dave, they should not bother to help anyone else. When Dave decides to help anyway, what does it demonstrate?
(a) That a good person chooses to be kind and helpful even in difficult times.
(b) That Linda is really the problem in their relationship, not Dave.
(c) That Miss Strangeworth would not be so isolated if she were a kinder person.
(d) That even the town's teenagers are more mature than Miss Strangeworth.